I ain't no movie critic, I'm a movie lover!

April 23, 2015April 23, 2015

‘ Avengers : Age Of Ultron ‘ Review

There’s a word I use a lot when it comes to movies, a word I fondly picked up from one of my favourite movies as a child, ‘Batman Forever’ (Still a close personal fave of mine.), uttered gleefully by JIm Carrey’s Riddler, as he destroys the Bat Cave… “Joygasm”. I use the word often, when there’s a high volume of absolute joy in a movie, when the fun is off the scale and the rules have gone out the window, when there’s nothing left to do but squeal like a girl as the screen explodes with pure happiness. ‘Avengers : Age Of Ultron’ is the very definition of that.

Following the monster smash-hit billion dollar box office gem ‘Avengers Assemble’ from 2012, this time the group of iconic heroes… Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor etc… must face an incredible force of destruction, as an AI invention of Tony Stark’s to protect the world develops it’s own personality and comes to life as a vicious and powerful robot (Voiced by James Spader), hell bent on destroying most of mankind and resetting the world so he can rule a planet of humans and machines who remain under his control as he plays God. The Avengers, as always, are up for the challenge, but with such a deadly man-made foe wreaking horrific damage upon the Earth, can the heroes win the day, or will they perish at the hands of Stark’s own creation?

A sequel to ‘Avengers Assemble’ was never going to be easy. How do you outdo the incredible? That movie just nailed the formula… Terrific story, perfect casting, a ton of wonderful gags and great humour, all mixed through a series of spectacular and insane action sequences that constantly raised the bar as the movie progressed. It should have been an impossible thing to do, but by gosh they did it, they really did. ‘Age Of Ultron’ is literally action packed, and not the kind of action where we say “Hey, that was cool!”, but the kind of action where we say “Wwwwhhhhhaaaaaaa? Oh my God did you SEE THAT???” Not to spoil too much (Unlike other people…), everyone gets an equal amount of screen time, you’re never left wondering where Iron Man or Hulk went, every lead character gets a great many action set pieces and stunts, while we also get the group action spectacles we expected, and boy is it all absolutely awesome. The visuals, the special effects, the stunts etc…, it all works perfectly, only pausing to inject heavy does of hysterical humour into proceedings (Iron Man and Hulk have a battle scene that shook the cinema with both thrilled gasps and laughter.). It is a very busy movie, there’s a lot happening to look at all at once, but with such a simple and well-written, if somewhat unoriginal (AI wants a body, and wants to rule the world…) story, it’s easy to enjoy the massive amounts of visual magic being thrown at us. It’s just all such a thrill to witness, the cast are having a total blast, rocking through like a pack of Energizer bunnies and all giving it their very best. And Joss Whedon returns once again as writer and director, doing his best Michael Bay impression, with everything from incredible exploding and shattering buildings to several modes of transport being flung down streets and through the air, all in perfect timing to an epic score from the legendary Danny Elfman (Who also scored many other superhero classics such as the Tim Burton ‘Batman’ movies and the first two Sam Raimi ‘Spider-man’ movies.) It’s sad knowing Whedon will not direct the 3rd movie, he definitely has the knack for it, he even bettered himself this time around.

It may not be completely perfect… There’s a little too much humour from Ultron, which makes him quite likable, which shouldn’t be the case for a robot trying to destroy the world. And I do wish someone would tell Hollywood that Aaron-Taylor Johnson cannot act (Although I found it amusing to see him reuinited with Elizabeth Olsen once again, the stars of last year’s horrendous attempt at a ‘Godzilla’ reboot)… But ‘Avengers : Age Of Ultron’ is a total feast of superhero fun and excitement, reaching dizzy heights in the comic book genre and is sure to net Marvel at least another cool billion dollars. Also worth noting is that the screening I went to happened to have at least 40 young school pupils on a cinema trip, the place would be anarchy at any other time, but not a sound was heard from any of them through the length of the movie. It takes some movie to keep 40 school kids quiet…

A 5-star experience, or as I said at the top, a “Joygasm”. Totally. Go see it. Now. (And there is no scene after the credits stop rolling, there is an extra scene after the main titles ending the movie, so wait a few more moments before leaving.)